General Orders, 19 December 1779
General Orders
Head-Quarters Morristown sunday Decr 19th [1779]
Parole Tuscany— C. Signs Tiverton Troy—
The General Court Martial appointed the 29th of May last for the trial of Major General Arnold whereof Major General Howe is President is directed to meet at this Town the 20th instant to resume the trial.1
The Court will consist of Majr Genl Howe President Brigadier Generals—Maxwell, vice Woodford absent2—Smallwood,3 Knox, and Stark,4 vice, Irvine challenged—Colonels—Bradley vice Wood absent5—Humpton, vice Harrison absent,6 Hall, Gunby—Cortlandt vice Moylan absent,7 Hazen vice R. Butler challenged—Dayton vice Popkins absent,8 Sherburne vice Harmar challenged.9
Varick transcript, DLC:GW.
Adj. Gen. Alexander Scammell’s orderly book entry for this date includes additional general orders: “Clinton’s and Hands Brigades give the Main Guard tomorrow. A Corpl and Six Men from General St Clairs Division to be sent to the F[orage] Mr Generals Quarters this afternoon with their Blankets & three Days provision—they are to drive horses to Pennsylvania.
“A sub. 2 Serjeants & 40 R[ank] & F[ile] from the Maryland Line to be paraded tomorrow Morning 9 oclock on the right of Clintons Brigade for fatigue to take their Dinners with them” (orderly book, 17 Oct. 1779–22 March 1780, DNA: RG 93, Orderly Books, 1775–1783, vol. 33).
1. GW had been working actively since early in the month to resume Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold’s court-martial, suspended since 2 June. Proceedings did not commence until 23 Dec. (see GW to Joseph Reed, 4 Dec., and the notes to that document).
Finding a suitable location for the court-martial also proved difficult. This need prompted a letter from Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to Benjamin Lindsley, justice of the peace in Morris County, N.J., written at Morristown on 25 Dec.: “We are in want of a place for the Court Martial to sit in. Will you place [please] to point out a place in the town for the purpose. The room will require to be pretty large” (DNA:PCC, item 173). The search apparently found nothing better than Norris’s tavern, which appears to have served as the location of all sessions from the date of the court-martial’s resumption (see General Orders, 21 and 22 Dec.).
2. Brig. Gen. William Woodford had left Morristown as commander of the Virginia line ordered to the southern department (see GW to Samuel Huntington, 29 Nov., and the source note to that document).
3. Brig. Gen. Mordecai Gist replaced Brig. Gen. William Smallwood as a member of Arnold’s court-martial (see GW to Smallwood, 20 Dec., and the general orders for 21 Dec.).
4. Col. Oliver Spencer replaced Brig. Gen. John Stark as a member of Arnold’s court-martial (see General Orders, 21 Dec.).
5. Col. James Wood had been appointed commander of the Convention Army prison camp at Charlottesville, Va. (see GW to Wood, 14 Dec.).
6. Col. Charles Harrison had been ordered south to recruit his artillery regiment (see GW to Harrison, 7 Dec., and n.6 to that document). For Col. Richard Humpton’s replacement on Arnold’s court-martial, see General Orders, 22 December.
7. Col. Stephen Moylan had been assigned to winter his cavalry regiment in Connecticut (see GW to Moylan, 27 Nov.).
8. The reason for Lt. Col. John Popkin’s absence has not been ascertained.
9. At the initial session of his court-martial on 29 May, Arnold “peremptorily objected to brigadier general Irvine, colonel [Richard] Butler and lieutenant colonel Harmar, which objection was allowed by the court” ( 3). Brig. Gen. John Stark and colonels Moses Hazen and Henry Sherburne replaced these officers. For Hazen’s replacement on Arnold’s court-martial, see General Orders, 22 December.